KISSING PARTY

Looking Back it was Romantic but at the Time I was Suffocating

Kissing Party is a band from Denver (USA). In 2006, the debut album Hold Your Hour and Have Another was released. Meanwhile we received a copy of the band’s fifth album Looking Back it was Romantic but at the Time I was Suffocating, released by Hot Congress Records. It contains 15 short compositions about love, peace and reflection. They are well-crafted little powerhouses of pop music that even the most cynical and jaded music fan can love, the Denver Post reported following the release of the album, and that's enough to make us curious!

The least you can say about Looking Back Romantic but it was at the Time I was Suffocating is that it is a very diverse album, caught between rock, punk and pop. The intros are very original and the punkish songs are played on guitars and drums. In Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow we hear the soft voice of Deirdre Sage, while in Right Out of Real Life Gregory Dolan is the singer. The Swimming Pool has the same pace, but the vocals are sung by both vocalists, supported by whining guitars and heavy drums. The track sounds less hectic, while the bell-like guitars in Justine, coupled with less emphatic vocals, push the material in the direction of pop music. A beautiful song. New Glue and MichiganMadonna are similar compositions, in which the voices of Deirdre and Gregory temper the violence of the guitars quite a bit. Sometimes we hear the English punk band Shopping, but Gregory Dolan's voice very often takes us to the land of The Smiths as well.

You Can’t Have Everyone is the first ballad on this album. Gregory Dolan's voice sounds wonderful and touching. The guitars have stowed their punk sound and are humming along in a soft way, while the bass guitar is painting a dark canvas on the background. A Vain Victory grows effortlessly into a beautiful pop song, starring Deirdre and Gregory, and bell-like guitars that create a light and cheerful atmosphere. In Skinhead Jen the pace is raised, but Gregory's rather quiet vocals, combined with wonderful buzzing guitars, make it a nice mid-tempo ballad. A favorite. Stabs and Happiness is of the same kind. Deirdre Sage sounds fragile and innocent, and she leaves room for the instrumental interpretation of minimalist electric and acoustic guitars. Very nice.

Trash gets emphatic dark guitars, making the track develop into the first real rock ballad on the album. In Two Boys Gregory Dolan sounds like Morrissey, while his voice has a different tone in the enigmatic I Livewith the Mystery. A nice track, but unfortunately too short, though it is completed with a beautiful and extended outro. Night of the Pigs sounds subdued and dreamy, with melodic guitars and beautiful harmonies, while Deirde Sage finishes the album in a wonderful way: You're Gonna Wonder is an acoustic track full of warmth and melancholy, supported by buzzing synths (violins?). Very nice.

Kissing Party uses a very diverse route between Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and You're Gonna Wonder, but after a few spins it all seems to fit together perfectly, and indeed, it all sounds irresistible.

Tracklisting:
1 Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
2 Right Out of Real Life
3 The Swimming Pool
4 Justine
5 New Glue
6 Michigan Madonna
7 You Can’t have everyone
8 A Vain Victory
9 Skinhead Jen
0 Stabs and Happiness
1 Trash
2 Two Boys
3 I Live with the Mystery
4 Night of the Pigs
5 You’re Gonna Wonder